Job optimism down even as joblessness rate drops in Philippines: survey

by Consuelo Marquez

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The number of jobless adults in the country dropped to 8.6 million in the second quarter of 2018, but fewer Filipinos were optimistic on job availability, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Survey results released by the pollster on Wednesday showed that adult joblessness rate was down 4.2 points to 19.7% (or 8.6 million adults) from 23.9 percent (or 10.9 million adults) in March 2018, but four points above the December 2017 rate of 15.7 percent (or 7.2 million adults).

Adult joblessness fell by 8.8 points in Balance Luzon, from 28.1 percent in March 2018 to 19.3 percent in June 2018, according to SWS.

The pollster noted that adult joblessness rate “hardly changed” in Metro Manila at 19.4 percent in June compared to 19 percent last March, which is similar to the joblessness rate in Mindanao, which was up slightly by 0.4 point from 20.8 percent in March to 21.2 percent in June.

In the Visayas, the joblessness rate declined to 19 percent in June from 21.6 percent in March 2018.

The adult joblessness rate among the 18 to 24 age group decreased to 44.4 percent in June from 53.1 percent last March, while joblessness for the 45 and above age group decreased to 12.2 percent in June from 17.4 percent in March.

Joblessness also decreased for age groups 35 to 44 from 17.4 percent in March to 15.7 percent in June. But, joblessness rate rose for the 25 to 34 age group at 29.1 percent in June from 26.6 percent in March.

In the rural areas, adult joblessness rate dropped to 16.2 percent in June from 24.8 percent in March. In the urban areas, joblessness was up to 23.2 percent in June from 22.8 percent in March.

The survey was conducted from June 27 to 30 through personal interviews of 1,200 adults in the 18 years old and above age group nationwide. It had a sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The SWS data on jobless adults is composed of those who resigned (9.5 percent), retrenched (6.8 percent) and first-time job seekers (3.4 percent).

‘More pessimism’

Net optimism on job availability declined from +37 in March 2018 to +32 in June while pessimism that there will be fewer jobs increased to 15 from 12 percent for the same period. On the other hand, optimism that there will be more jobs decreased by two points from 49 percent in March to only 47 percent in June.